Droplet-trace-based array partitioning and a pin assignment algorithm for the automated design of digital microfluidic biochips
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Citations
ILP-based pin-count aware design methodology for microfluidic biochips
A General and Exact Routing Methodology for Digital Microfluidic Biochips
Droplet-based nucleic acid amplification method and apparatus
A Network-Flow Based Pin-Count Aware Routing Algorithm for Broadcast-Addressing EWOD Chips
Digital Microfluidic Biochips: A Vision for Functional Diversity and More Than Moore
References
Graph Theory
Electrowetting-based actuation of liquid droplets for microfluidic applications
An integrated digital microfluidic lab-on-a-chip for clinical diagnostics on human physiological fluids
Microfluidics meets MEMS
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Electrowetting-based actuation of droplets for integrated microfluidics
An integrated digital microfluidic lab-on-a-chip for clinical diagnostics on human physiological fluids
Frequently Asked Questions (16)
Q2. What are the two main types of electrodes used for driving a droplet?
In order to drive a droplet along the X-direction, electrode rows on the bottom plate serve as driving electrodes, while electrode rows on the top serve as reference ground electrodes.
Q3. How can you solve the problem of electrode interference?
Electrode interference can be solved by “virtually” partitioning the array into regions, with each of them having only one activated cell at any point in time.
Q4. What are the main applications of microfluidics biochips?
Microfluidics-based biochips combine electronics with biology to open new application areas such as point-of-care medical diagnostics, on-chip DNA analysis, and automated drug discovery.
Q5. What is the way to reduce the number of control pins?
Although the multi-phase bus method is useful for reducing the number of control pins, it is only applicable to a one-dimensional (linear) array.
Q6. What can be done to reduce the number of control pins?
The concept of TDPS can also be applied in the spatial dimension to the operations inside the overlapping region to further reduce the number of control pins.
Q7. How many sets of pins are used for electrode control in different partitions?
By using different sets of five pins for electrode control in different partitions, electrode interference among partitions can be avoided.
Q8. What is the disadvantage of the ad-hoc partitioning method?
microfluidic modules such as mixers, splitters, and detectors are not considered in the ad-hoc partitioning method; an additional design step is needed to handle these modules separately.
Q9. how to reduce the number of control pins?
By drastically reducing the number of control pins with minimal impact on assay throughput, the proposed design technique is expected to reduce cost and lead to further miniaturization of disposable biomedical devices for the emerging healthcare market.
Q10. How many pins do two-dimensional arrays need to ensure full control of a single?
Recall that regardless of size, a two-dimensional array only needs five independent pins to ensure full control of a single droplet.
Q11. How many pins can be used to address the nine electrodes in Partition 23?
Hence the two set of pins (a total of 2x5=10 pins) in Partitions 1 and 4 can be used to directly address the nine electrodes in Partition 23.
Q12. How many independent pins are sufficient to route a droplet to any place on the chip?
Recent experimental studies have shown that five independent pins are adequate to route a droplet to any place on the chip for single droplet manipulation [17].
Q13. What is the last step in system synthesis?
Since the authors view pin assignment as the last step in system synthesis, information about module placement and droplet routing is available a priori.
Q14. How many copies of the same partition can be tiled?
Since this is true for any Bagua repetitions and any partition can be tiled by five copies of Bagua repetitions, the “cross constraint” is automatically met for every cell in their pin assignment method.
Q15. What is the problem with multi-layer electrical connection structures?
Multi-layer electrical connection structures and wire routing solutions are complicated by the large number of independent control pins in such arrays.
Q16. How can the authors determine the time spans for all the partitions?
The time spans for all the partitions can be easily calculated from the operation schedule, module placement and droplet routing results [19]; the overlaps can then be readily determined.